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Monthly Archives: July 2017

Today I have something a little different to show you. I have created a tag to display in my craft room as a reminder to “Be Brave”, “Create” and “Enjoy” when I’m art journaling.

I’d like to thank Chrissie who inspired me to create this tag, because over at Tag Tuesday if you join in the fun you can enter a draw to win a fabulous owl that she has knitted (grin!). Well I really couldn’t pass up that opportunity as it is so adorable!

The current theme over at Tag Tuesday is “My Favourite Colour Combination”, so of course I choose two shades of blue as it’s my favourite colour along with black, white and some caramel accents to complement and bring out the blue tones.

I started by cutting a tag shape from some Design Pad paper by American Crafts, then I embossed white doily shapes and black butterflies onto the tag. I did this by stamping a Doily by Kaisercraft using Papermania embossing ink and applying white Stampendous embossing powder over the top. Then I shook the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper and tapped the tag against the table to make sure I had removed any stray powder. Once the excess powder was safely returned to its container, I used a craft heat gun to melt the embossing powder. I swept the gun over the images, taking care not to direct the heat in one area for too long until the embossing powder melted into a glossy finish becoming smooth and dimensional. I repeated the same process for the butterflies using a stamp designed by Graphic 45 Hampton Art using black Versafine Ink and black Papermania embossing powder. Next I scribbled Boysenberry, Snow Cone and Caramel Faber-Castell Gelatos onto the tag and smudged the colour using my finger which I had dipped in water. Then I wiped the embossed images with kitchen paper to remove any excess gelato. I added a filigree leaf stamp by Crafter’s Companion using Danube Blue Memento Ink, a script stamp by Kaisercraft and a postage mark stamp by Hampton Art using black Archival Ink. To finish the background, I splattered black acrylic paint over the tag using a paintbrush.

The black flowers are felt fabric which I cut to fit and then glued onto the tag using a UHU glue pen. To make the tag more sturdy I cut out another tag shape from thick paper, slightly larger this time to create a border. I stained the edges of this paper with black Versafine Ink using a blending tool, edged both tags with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and then I stuck the two tags together using a UHU Stic. I punched a hole in the top of the tag and outlined it with the black Faber-Castell Big Brush Marker and I also added strips of black Glitterations stickers across the edge of where the two tags joined and also along the border to add more detail.

I added silver glitter details to the butterfly wings using Ranger Stickles and also some glittery hearts and blue round gems using Glossy Accents. The words are stamped onto a piece of design paper which I mounted on the leftover border paper, that I had stained with black ink, using a UHU Stic and then they are stuck to the tag using double-sided foam tape. I tied white organza, blue satin and black velvet ribbons through the tag which finished the tag beautifully.

As my tag has plenty of glitter and shine I’m also pleased to join the “Let it Shine” theme over at Try it on Tuesday. My good friend Gill likes elegance and grunge as much as me and I missed out on the tag fun when she was a guest designer over at Try it on Tuesday a couple of weeks ago, because, unfortunately, I just didn’t have the time. However this week I found that some rainy weather allowed me more time in my craft room so I got to work. I hope you like the result as much as me!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

I was inspired to create a page for Try it on Tuesday’s theme of “Let it Shine” and decided to create a sun page to help use up lots of different coloured glitter glues I have in my craft stash. The resulting page made me smile as it sparkles and shines!

I started by stamping a starburst stamp on the top right hand corner of my page using London Fog Memento Ink. Then I extended the starburst design to fill the page using a ruler and pencil. Next I used Sunflower, Gold, Marigold, Orange and Begonia Spectrum Aqua markers to colour the sections alternating the colours; I did this by scribbling the markers onto an acrylic block and picking up the ink with a wet paintbrush. Next I selected a different glitter glue pen for each of the Spectrum Aqua marker colours used, squeezed the glue onto the corresponding sections and spread it using a palette knife to create sun rays. I also created a round sun shape using the different glitter glues and used the palette knife to give a smooth finish. While the glue was still wet I added the sequins to the sun and sun rays, then I left the page to dry thoroughly. As the glue dried it reacted with the solid blocks of Aqua marker ink that I had applied and concentrated them to form lines of colour a bit like heat radiating from the sun. I emphasised these patterns by building up the colours more using the corresponding Aqua markers again. Then I used black and yellow Uni Posca paint pens to add dots of colour and definition around the sun and the sun rays. Next I stamped the words using an alphabet stamp by Papermania and black Versafine Ink. I went over the letters with a black Sharpie permanent marker so they were fully coloured black and then I covered the letters with Glossy Accents to give the wording a shiny 3D effect so they stood out more. To finish I added the black butterflies, flowers and small gemstones using Glossy Accents.

This page reminds me of all the smiles, sparkle and sunshine that we saw at Blackpool Carnival last weekend. Blackpool has brought back their annual summer carnival after an absence of many years and we had such a fun time. The theme was “International” and there were steel bands playing wonderful up-beat songs that made you smile! There were also international food stands and a stage where there were different dance troupes and singers.

As part of the carnival there was a parade along the promenade which was full of sparkle!

The parade was packed full of culture, variety, and fabulous costumes.

Then we moved over to the dark side (grin!) as Star Wars also took part in the parade, which is probably “intergalactic” rather than “international” (double grin!). It was really strange because the atmosphere seem to change as they went passed – quite eerie but ever so cool too! It made my day to see them in the parade and it was lovely to have more summer fun in the sun!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

There is so much to love about summer such as hot days spent relaxing and enjoying yourself, just like the two ladies on my page. Like me, they want to join in the fun over at Art Journal Journey with Bluebeard’s and Elizabeth’s “Summertime Love” theme.

I started this page by combining navy and white acrylic paints to create a bright blue colour, then I applied this paint thickly to the page with a paint brush so you could see the brush strokes. I fussy cut the two ladies from a magazine and stuck them down using a UHU Stic once the paint had dried. Then I stamped a black border by Hampton Art using black Archival Ink and used a black Uni Pin marker to colour and outline some of the squares. On the right hand side of the page I arranged different papers by Craft Sensations which are stuck down using a UHU Stic along with some spotted paper tape. Next I added the “Summer” title and I also applied the other summer sayings and words, which are rub-on transfer sentiments by Royal & Langnickel, to the papers which I stuck down earlier. I added paper flowers by Dovecraft and decorated their centres with white felt flowers, buttons and dome enamel dots; these are stuck into place using glossy accents. The polka dot butterfly buttons, tag and pink flowers are wooden embellishments and are stuck to the page using glossy accents; I tied black paper twine to the centre of the butterfly buttons and to the top of the tag before I stuck them down. To finish, I added a polka dot strawberry and some blue dome enamel dots.

Pimm’s is a very popular summertime drink here in the UK and as T Stands for Tuesday it must be “Pimm’s o’clock” so I’m sharing a jug of Pimm’s and saying a big hello to the T Gang – Happy T Day!

For those of you who may not be familiar with this drink, Pimm’s No. 1 is a fragrant gin-based drink which is combined with distinctive botanicals and bitter herbs, caramelized orange and delicate spices. It is mixed with lemonade and served over ice with strawberries, cucumber and mint. You may have noticed I added the word “lemonade” and also a strawberry to my page (grin!).

If you’re interested, here are some more Pimm’s related facts:

Pimm’s No.1 was invented and originally served at an oyster bar in London in the 1800’s to aid digestion and was a homemade concoction mixed by a Mr. Pimm.

The Pimm’s recipe is top secret and there are 6 different types of Pimm’s which differ only in their base alcohol e.g. gin, vodka, scotch etc.

It is traditionally served with chopped strawberries, cucumber and mint which you can snack on at the end of the glass of Pimm’s, well that’s if you can wait that long (grin!). It’s a good way to get your daily dose of fruit and vegetables – or ‘one of your five a day’ as we say in the UK.

“It’s Pimm’s o’clock” was a phrase coined by some clever marketing people to show that it’s great for sharing. Here’s one of the adverts using this catch phrase.

Pimm’s is often seen at Wimbledon, polo matches and the Henley Regatta and is also served at Buckingham Palace by appointment to the Queen so we’re in good company sipping this drink in the sunshine!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

We love summer because of all the ice cream we can eat, so I thought I would create a page to celebrate this summertime love and join the many others who have created ice cream pages over at Art Journal Journey for Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s “Summertime Love” theme. My page focuses on gelato rather than ice cream though and also the delicious flavours that you find in the many gelateria (ice cream shops) when holidaying in Italy.

I started by covering the page in Aquamarine, Kingfisher, Topaz and Gold Spectrum Aqua markers; I did this by scribbling the marker onto an acrylic block, spritzing the block with water and pressing it onto the page. I also used a paint brush to transfer some of the diluted ink across the page. Next I fussy cut magazine images that reminded me of our holidays in Italy. I also cut out some birds, an Italian ice cream shop banner and an ice cream cone which details possible holiday destinations. Once they were cut out I stuck them to the page using a UHU Stic. As I chose Italy as the destination for this page, I coloured the word “flavour?” with green, white and red Uni Posca paint pens to represent the colours of the Italian flag and outlined them with a black Uni Pin marker so they stood out more. Then using black Archival Ink I stamped the names, in Italian, of our favourite flavours of gelato that we had when we visited Italy (you will find an English description of each of these flavours below). I created the border using a heart stamp and the black Archival Ink and I also top and tailed the gelato names with this stamp. I coloured each heart with the green, white and red Uni Posca pens to represent the Italian flag design; this took some time as there were so many hearts but I think it was well worth the time and effort as I love the detail. Next I used some gold alphabet outline stickers which I coloured black with a Sharpie permanent marker to add the words “Love Gelato”. I connected the gelato names, created a heart and embellished the magazine images using some small green, red and clear gemstones. To finish I added the ice cream cones which I made using some leftover petal outline stickers that I crisscrossed with black Uni Pin marker to represent a waffle cone and a large gemstones that I placed on the top to represent the gelato.

There are gelateria everywhere in Italy and it wasn’t hard to find this shop in Verona. It had the most beautiful display with the carved fruit, intricately shaped gelato and corresponding toppings to depict the flavour, such as a lemon, coconut or strawberries.

Needless to say we couldn’t pass by without trying some, so we had three scoops of different gelato piled into a waffle cone. It was so yummy and although I could have probably eaten both of these, one was for my hubby (grin!).

When we were in Tuscany, we had this Amarena, Tiramisu and Stracciatella gelato.

Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream, so you could argue that gelato and ice cream are the same. However there is a big difference and it comes down to these factors: fat, air and serving temperature. If you are interested to find out more, then:

Gelato has less fat than ice cream because gelato uses more milk than cream compared to ice cream.

Ice cream is churned faster and harder than gelato which is churned at a much slower pace. As a result, gelato is denser with less air while ice cream can consist of 25% to 90% air. The higher density gives gelato a more intense flavour.

The temperature at which the two are served is different too. The higher density and lower fat composition means that gelato is typically served at a higher temperature than ice cream. If gelato were served at the same temperature as ice cream it would be too hard and if ice cream were served at the same temperature as gelato, it would melt and become soupy.

On summer evenings you will find that the Italian gelateria is the busiest part of town, often opening until midnight. There are so many different flavours to choose from including:

Fragola: Strawberry and this is usually a deep pink colour due to the addition of crushed strawberries.

Limone: fresh, tangy lemon flavour. This is a traditional flavour in Italy as lemons were introduced into southern Italy in the first century and are still grown there today.

Tiramisu: One of the most popular Italian desserts is turned into a frozen delight. The name tiramisu is often translated figuratively as “pick me up” or “cheer me up” in Italian, in reference to the effects of sugar and coffee and also traditionally Marsala wine.

Stracciatella: chocolate chip style, this gelato was invented in Italy and is a light vanilla gelato with crunchy shards of chocolate running throughout.

Vaniglia: Vanilla and the colours and taste varies depending on how many vanilla beans are used to make the gelato.

Crema: Italian crema is a pale yellow colour and is more like custard than cream.

Frutti di bosco: translates to fruits of the forest and is normally a mixture of strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, blackcurrants and raspberries.

Cioccolato: good old chocolate, my favourite!

Panna Cotta: this is the frozen version of the traditional Italian dessert; it is rich and velvety due to the addition of heavy cream.

Amarena: Plain ice cream with swirls of cherry sauce which is made from Amarena cherries which are small, slightly sharp cherries that are grown in Italy.

Malaga: Rum and Raisin.

My hubby loves this gelato sandwich called “brioche con gelato”; you can choose your gelato flavours, this one if filled with Tiramisu and Panna Cotta, and they are served in a brioche roll. These can be found in gelateria across Italy and this particular one was in Lake Garda – yum!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Blackpool Jazz & Blues Festival, the musicians and singers were so amazing that I created this page to remember them!

I started by fussy cutting a trumpet from an old magazine and positioning it onto the page so I could draw wavy lines to create sections as if music was flowing out of the trumpet. I then removed the image and coloured the different sections with Kiwi, Butter Cream, Acqua Dolce, Watermelon, Guava and Peach Faber-Castell Gelatos; I did this by scribbling them onto the page and smudging the colour with my finger which I had dipped in water. I also blended the gelato colours across each section to soften the edges. Next I stamped butterflies by Crafter’s Companion and music notes by Docrafts using black Archival Ink so they looked like they were flowing out of the trumpet and over the page. I chose butterflies because an amazing singer, Lauren Dalrymple, had butterflies on her top. Between the stamped images I added the names of some of our favourite singers and musicians from the festival. Next I fussy cut an image of a musician playing a saxophone from the festival programme, the name of the festival from a flyer and a treble clef (which incorporated a piano keyboard design) from a magazine. I added a piece of thin green washi tape to the left-hand side of the page and then the saxophone image which like the other images are stuck to the page with a UHU Stic. I then added a piece of piano keyboard washi tape and treble clef to represent the amazing pianists at the festival. The festival name is edged with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck down using double-sided foam tape. I used black and white Uni Posca paint pens to add dots to emphasise the wavy lines, add definition to the names and also details to the butterfly images that I had stamped. I also outlined the saxophone image with the white Uni Posca paint pen so it stood out more. To finish, I added some pearl gemstones that matched the gelato colours to give more interest.

Blackpool Jazz & Blues Festival is a non-profit event and all proceeds are donated to Trinity Hospice. Over the last 3 years this festival has raised over £11,000 for this charity and as we love live jazz and blues music we always go along to support this great cause. Musicians and singers from all over the country come and perform here on a completely voluntary basis.

Lauren Dalrymple is a very gutsy and soulful singer who simply wowed us with her amazing voice! She sang an incredible rendition of “Bye, Bye Blackbird” as well as her own composition Walking in Lille – she is a truly astonishing singer songwriter!

This is CDF# , this group consists of the three members Christopher Hodder (Guitar), David Minshull (Drums / Percussion) and Frank Flynn (Piano / Keyboard). They are very talented and have a wonderful respect for each other’s musical ability, and by far my favourite piece of music that they play is St. Thomas.

I have to say I have never heard such spectacular sounds resonate from a guitar before, these guys from a local band called Shotglass were fantastic!

As it’s T Stands for Tuesday‘s 4th Anniversary today, I’m so glad to be able to offer my heartfelt congratulations and join Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s T party with a pint of Amazon Amber beer by Bowness Bay Brewery in the Lake District. This is a lovely refreshing English Bitter 3.8% abv (alcohol by volume) which is light in colour and has a distinctive flavour with hints of oranges and spiced berries. I’m celebrating and saying a big cheers to the T Gang – wishing you all a very Happy T Day!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

We feel really blessed to live right by the sea and with it being summer it’s great fun to see all the holidaymakers who visit our beach. Having also seen the lovely seaside and beach hut photos that my good friend Gill from Gibbyfrogettcraftations had posted of her home town I was doubly inspired to create a page to remember the sunny seaside days we have been having of late.

The background textures and colours represent the sand, sea, dunes and pebbles of our shoreline. I started by applying Yellow, Moss and Teal Spectrum Aqua Markers to an acrylic block, spritzing the block with water and pressing it onto the page, gradually building up layers of colour. I then stamped a pebble pattern using a homemade polystyrene stamp using Tea Dye Distress Ink and London Fog Memento Ink. Next I added a piece of netting using a UHU Glue Pen to stick it down and I chose some words to add to the background with a seaside theme which are rub-on transfers. I positioned an old postcard onto my page which was from my mum and dad when they were on holiday in Cromer, Norfolk. This beach hut image is called “Seaside Days” by M.Heath and as I wanted to be able to read the back of the postcard I attached it to my page using hooks that I secured into place using Glossy Accents. The hooks are from a pack of Hook & Eye Bar Fasteners by Newey which were in my sewing box.

I like the way the postcard is securely held into place by the hooks and also slides out with ease so I can still view the back. I fussy cut the crab, boat and seagulls from a leaflet and also some nautical images and paper squares from a wallpaper sample. I stamped the letters on the paper squares using black Archival Ink and then I stuck everything onto the page using matte gel medium. I used a Slate Spectrum Aqua marker to add shadows once the gel medium had dried. To finish, I added some dried palm leaves to the page, using Glossy Accents, so they looked like grasses.

We have beach huts on our beach front too and and these huts can be rented for the day. This time of year they are very popular, more so at weekends and some evenings. They have a lovely outlook on the promenade overlooking the beach and you often find people sitting in the sunshine and enjoying the facilities the beach hut provides. People often bring a picnic with them, walk into town to get fish and chips or arrange for a pizza to be delivered to their hut. They always seem to be having so much fun!

On our particular beach there is plenty of space for everyone (the tide often goes out 1.8miles that’s 3km) and for the children there is usually a bouncy castle and also donkey rides, which are traditional at seaside resorts here in the UK. The donkeys usually have their names on their harnesses, so let me introduce you to Rambo, Teddy and Bobby who were being very well looked after by their owners. I remember as a child going on donkey rides up and down the beach which were definitely happy seaside days (grin!).

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

I started by cutting different decoupage and design pad papers into squares and rectangles to create the background. The papers I choose have seaside theme images and colourful patterns to represent our town, the carnival atmosphere and the fun we had. They are stuck to the page using a UHU Stic and I incorporated some pretty patterned fabric tape into the background design as well. Then I added vertical black lines along the edge of some of the papers using a Uni Posca paint pen. Next I added all the embellishments with the aim of layering them and to only use one of each item or design on my page so that I created an eclectic feel to represent the parade and give the page contrasting pops of colour. This was also a good way to use up bits and pieces I had leftover in my craft stash. This included some cardboard bunting with buttons on from Poundland and glittery bunting from Poundworld, which represent the bunting we saw along the parade route. As there were lots of bands taking part and music played throughout the parade I also added some music note washi tape, along with some camera film washi tape as we and many others were taking photos. There were vintage vehicles in the parade so I added an image of an old vintage car which is a Victorian tag embellishment. I added some pink circle stickers with palm trees and flamingos by The Range and lots of different flowers to represent some of the floats we saw during the parade; the flowers included a lovely sunflower border by Docrafts, a mini white flower, a red rose (for one of the bands) by The Range, a 3D sticker, a blue organza flower recycled from a gift bag and some glittery blue flower rub-on transfers. I also used some foam craft stickers from Wilko; a flower shape, a star, a balloon and lollipop which some floats were giving out to children, a crown to represent the carnival queens in the parade, a lion to represent the jungle theme of one of the school floats and an ice cream as there were bicycle ice cream carts. I especially liked the lorry carrying children from a local football club who had water guns. Needless to say they were having great fun covering everyone in water, so I added a foam football to the page with a half circle of tear shaped gem stones to depict the water droplets from their water guns (grin!). There were actually many children taking part in the parade from schools, clubs and community groups, they are represented by “A,B,C” and “1,2,3” mini gel stickers that I added to my page. As well as the “Sand; Sea; Sun” wording on one of the decoupage papers, I added more words that I associated with the carnival using stickers from Craft Planet, rub-on transfers and a “Hidden Joy” fabric sticker by Little Yellow Bicycle. The garland flag and ticket represent the fun rides and stalls that were in the park as part of the carnival. To finish, I added a glittery heart, some buttons, a couple of ribbons that I had tied into bows and lots of gemstones to add sparkle and interest.

Thought you might want to join in the carnival fun so here’s our Town Crier opening the parade, as you can see we had beautiful sunny weather.

There was lots of music throughout the parade and my favourite was this New Orleans style brass band; they are called Red Rose and played great music, I also enjoyed watching the gentleman with his umbrella, he looked so happy dancing in front of his band!

If you prefer there was also a traditional UK brass band.

Or even bagpipes for those of you who prefer more of a Scottish vibe which was loud and fabulous too.

This is one of the many vintage cars that took part in the parade.

There were quite a few horses in the parade this year and the carnival queen was travelling in style in a Cinderella coach.

Here’s the children from the Football Club, don’t they look pleased with themselves squirting the spectators with their water guns.

There was also a troop of local gymnasts performing in the parade and if you look at the photo closely you can see one of them in mid-air.

I was in awe of the work that must have gone into all the wonderful knitted car – isn’t it amazing!

As we were walking by Anton’s café, we saw some friends sitting at one of the tables outside and they kindly asked if we would like to join them.

Of course we were delighted to and had a great time chatting and enjoying the sunshine. So as T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and wishing you all a very Happy T Day! Our drinks were a pot of green tea for me and a hot chocolate for my hubby, you can also see our friend’s cappuccino in the background which I’m sure will please any coffee lovers in the T Gang, namely Valerie and Elizabeth (grin!).

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page: